//------------------------------// // Chapter 6.3: Prices // Story: Secrets of the Mane Six // by Starscribe //------------------------------// “How?” It was the first word Twilight had managed. She felt herself shaking—her bubble of silence sparked, then went out. They were plunged into the dim candlelight of the evening, with the moon shining in from above. “How can you…” “You know,” Celestia said. “The night I sent you to the graveyard. When I raise the sun a few hours from now, her pain will be over. Theirs will never end.” Someone knocked on the front door—then a familiar voice spoke. “Hello?” Rainbow pushed it open with a hoof, looking around. “Princess are you up here?”  “Into the kitchen!” Princess Celestia called. “Lock the door first, if you would.” “No problem,” Rainbow said. “But you should know, I saw a real shady stallion sneaking away into the bushes. Maybe we should do something?” “No,” Celestia said. “He’s quite done for the night.” She stepped forward, putting herself between the doorway and where Sweetie had been thrashing. There was still damage to the floor—whole sections of wall were cracked, and black slime seeped across the floor. Twilight recognized it then, and immediately started heaving. It was rotten, congealed blood. By the time she looked up, Rainbow Dash was standing in the doorway, holding a little bag over her shoulder. Her eyes landed on Twilight, and she immediately turned on Celestia. “Please, Princess, you shouldn’t make her forget. Twilight was great in Kumari! I’m pretty sure the council would’ve liked her too, if we had time to—” Celestia extended a wing, silencing her. She gently took the bag, removing the contents. It was a little metal cylinder with a tight lid, the kind that usually held curiously strong mints. “It isn’t for her.” She turned, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Twilight. “You went to Kumari? I thought you’d taken the metal from the royal reserve… I guess I should’ve told you about the reserve. Thank you for your help, Rainbow Dash. You’ve given more than you know.” Rainbow didn’t look like she wanted to leave—but one stern look from Celestia was enough to make her turn away. Twilight was certain she had caught a glimpse of what was on the floor, or at least enough to guess. But she didn’t argue, and soon the door shut behind her. “I can’t take the pain from young Sweetie Belle,” Celestia said. “But I can ensure she doesn’t—” Twilight stuck out her wing, covering the lid. It was the boldest thing she’d ever done to the princess. But after everything she’d seen and done, she was feeling brave. “I don’t think we should, Princess.” Celestia raised an eyebrow. Her horn didn’t glow, and she didn’t use her magic. She just watched. “Sweetie chose to be a pony again. If we give her… memory coral, I’m guessing… we take away her choice. It’s not fair.” Princess Celestia met her eyes for a long moment. But if she expected Twilight to back down, she was disappointed. Eventually she sighed, setting the little cylinder on the floor. “Will you take responsibility for healing her, Twilight? You are a princess now. The scars cut into her soul tonight may torment her for years.” Twilight shrugged. “I think she’d rather remember. Instead of waking up tomorrow and having Rarity tell her. The memories should be real—she should know she chose this.” Celestia sighed, shaking her head. “Alright, Twilight. I know you’re new to this, and I don’t blame you. I have ruled Equestria a long time—in all those years, I’ve learned that ponies are happier not knowing. They may be ignorant, but their ignorance lets them sleep peacefully. You will see that in Sweetie’s lifetime.”  Celestia turned away. “Tell the guests I’ve taken Sweetie and Rarity on a surprise retreat to the castle. I will nurse her back to health and leave her memories intact.” Princess Celestia pushed the cylinder against Twilight’s hoof with her magic. “If this ends badly for her, I want your word that you will tell her the truth. She deserves to know that she could’ve lived without pain if you’d given her the chance.” “I will,” Twilight promised. Celestia’s horn glowed brilliantly bright, filling the farmhouse. Twilight was momentarily blinded, lifting her leg to shield her eyes by reflex. By the time it faded, Celestia, Sweetie, and Rarity were gone, along with a whole section of the kitchen floor. Twilight watched from the edge of the dance floor as ponies left the party behind. She could only hope Celestia had informed the Apple family of what might happen when they let her borrow their house. Either that, or maybe Twilight would have to help them pay for a new kitchen. This whole time I thought ponies were freaking out because of some danger the transformation would set loose. But that hadn’t been it at all. Twilight could still hear poor Sweetie Belle’s agonized screams, still see her thrashing on the floor like a pony poisoned and dying. The filly wasn’t the only one who would have to learn to live with the consequences of what they’d done. “Hey Twilight,” Pinkie said, appearing from behind her without so much as a squeak. “You look like you saw a ghost.” “Please don’t tell me those are real too,” Twilight muttered, before even turning around. Then she did, and saw Pinkie was wearing an oversized party hat, complete with a cartoonish picture of Sweetie’s face. “Oh, okay.” Pinkie looked away. “I won’t tell you. They’re… not real. Yep, totally fake! Just a big story.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry I ended your party prematurely.” Pinkie shrugged, offering her a slice of cake on a paper plate. Twilight hadn’t seen her carry one, but that was the least of all possible mysteries she’d encountered lately. She took it and started scarfing it down with the offered fork. “Every party has an end. It’s sad, but without one there wouldn’t really be a party.” Maybe now she knew why Princess Celestia liked cake so much. She hardly spoke as she watched the crowd vanishing down the hill. Whatever had happened to Regolith, at least he was honest about not causing trouble. She heard no screams, no signs that he’d changed his mind about attacking the city. “Do you think… was I wrong to try and cure her? Should I have told Rarity no?” Twilight couldn’t even remember which friend knew which secret at this point. But she found she didn’t care. If any of them were going to figure out what she was talking about, it was Pinkie. “You saved her,” Pinkie said. “Once she learned a cure was out there, she was going to work until she found it. If you hadn’t helped, she would’ve gone to all the places you did. How well do you think she would’ve done?” Twilight didn’t answer. It didn’t feel like she had to. If Rarity had tried what Twilight herself had done, she’d be dead now, and Sweetie would still be a vampire. “I’m still not sure what she’ll think about it,” Twilight eventually said. She glanced around them once, but there was nopony to overhear. “Every filly wants to grow up. She wants her cutie mark, and everything that goes with it. But what will she think when she’s old? Will she wish she’d done something else? Wish I’d… left her alone?” Applejack appeared from the edge of the hill, with a huge bundle of streamers wrapped around a large stick. So she’d already started cleaning up. Pinkie shrugged again. “She’s not the only one we have to worry about. Rarity; we have to do something about her. I was worried about you too, but… maybe not so much anymore.” She glanced at her wings, but only for a second. “You don’t have a mark of harvest around your neck. So I guess you have more than four seasons left.” “Quite a bit more. Still not sure if I made the right choice about that either.” Pinkie rose, gathering up Twilight’s trash and turning back to the party. “I’m going to help clean up. Before you ask, don’t worry about it. You’ve done enough. Just get some rest yourself. And maybe go on vacation before the next adventure—it doesn’t look like you’ve had a good night’s sleep in months.” She was right of course, though Twilight wasn’t about to admit it. She watched Pinkie go from the edge of the stage. Without prompting from her, Spike was already helping the growing cleanup crew. She would have to do something special for that dragon after all his help in the last few months. “Princess.” Not Regolith’s voice, thankfully for him. If he’d appeared from the trees behind her now, she might’ve blasted him with magic without any regard for the treaty. “Do you have a moment?” Princess Luna didn’t emerge from the orchard, and the apple trees nearby kept her form mostly concealed. None of the ponies working to clean up would see her. Twilight finally rose, and turned to follow. “I didn’t have any other plans for the night.” She followed her into the dark, away from the sound of low voices as they worked. Luna waited until Twilight had joined her to start walking, further into the trees. “I’ve dispatched the last of the creatures your cure summoned here. I don’t believe the population of your town were any the wiser.” Neither was I. Twilight’s eyebrows went up, and she stared at the moon princess. She wore thin armor on her back, and a sword around her waist. Twilight now recognized the design of both, since she’d worn them herself. “I didn’t know we would be… in danger. I wouldn’t have invited the town. I’m sure Rarity wouldn’t have tried to make the surprise happen on the same day as—” Luna stuck out a wing. “It is alright. I’ve been aware of the process since the first day. Agent Rarity had earned a little gratitude from my organization. If anyone deserved this, it was her.” Twilight tensed, looking away. “Do you agree with your older sister, Princess Luna? Do you think ponies are better off not knowing… everything I’ve figured out?” Luna didn’t seem instantly confident as Celestia had been. Instead she hesitated and didn’t meet Twilight’s eyes. “My sister loves Equestria and its ponies. But I don’t always agree with her. I believe our history together is enough to illustrate that.” Somepony doesn’t need subtlety lessons from a vampire. “I don’t like it,” Twilight said. Now that the words left her mouth, she felt incredibly childish. But once she started… “Not telling everypony. Equestria’s ponies are clever, hardworking… I think they’d be able to prepare a way to fight if they understood the dangers. Keeping us from knowing doesn’t make the dangers go away.” “Us,” Luna repeated, one eyebrow raised. She stopped walking, touching a wing briefly over Twilight’s shoulder. “Even if you don’t agree with my sister, there is one thing I hope you bear in mind in the next few centuries. The state of affairs that exists in Equestria today is one she cultivated carefully. Making her subjects forget about the atrocities of Nightmare Moon, and the other dangers that lurk in the darkness beyond their sight. Celestia has created prosperity in her way. What took her centuries to build, you could destroy in days.” Luna might be right. Though… it was hard to imagine Celestia not fighting back. Geez, am I imagining fighting her in the first place? What the hay is getting into me? “Will you?” Luna asked. Twilight winced, realizing then that she wasn’t even sure how long she’d been standing there, silent. She shook her head. “Not this moment. And probably not everything. If I wrote a tell-all about my last few months, I’d be confined. But there must be somewhere to start, something least dangerous and most important for everypony to understand. Vampires, maybe.” “Good luck,” Luna said. “But maybe you can succeed where I failed. Even after living here for years, I still often fail to understand modern ponies. But you should know that if you do fight against the status quo, my sister will oppose you. Not… violently. She won’t try to throw you into a dungeon. But Alicorns have always been in conflict. She represents one order, and she will try to protect it.” For a few minutes, Twilight said nothing at all, just staring up at the evening sky. “I don’t know what I’ll do,” she admitted, eventually. “Probably vacation in Kumari for a bit now that this is over. Or… wait, I almost forgot. I’ve got an apprentice to worry about. So maybe I’ll vacation in Kumari with Sweetie Belle.” As she thought about it, an idea was forming in her head. The filly was tough, and she already knew about at least one aspect of the unseen world. She would make a perfect test-subject to gauge the reactions of the average pony to the supernatural. Besides, now that Twilight knew where the danger was, she could safely bring Spike too, if he still wanted anything to do with her. “Then enjoy your vacation.” Princess Luna spread her wings, then took off. “While you can.”